The Connection Between Learning Content Playlists And The Psychology of Personalization

We live in the age of personalization, a reality in which technology has enabled content of all forms to be manipulated and organized to reflect anyone’s tastes. That means the ability to organize your favorite tunes into customizable playlists (a la Spotify) or consume video that might match your interests based on content you’ve already watched (think YouTube/Netflix).

Personalization is not lost in the world of e-learning. Technology has evolved to enable the delivery of personalized learning content that learners don’t just need, but demand.

Technology, however, is only an enabler of personalization, one piece of a complicated puzzle completed only when you understand the psychology behind personalization.

Understanding The Psychology of Personalization

According to a study by the University of Texas, our desire for personalization is rooted in our innate desire for control and the power of choice. Given that technology has afforded people a stronger influence over the kinds of content they consume and the device that content is consumed on, Learning and Development (L&D) activities, in order to be most effective, must reflect that flexibility and respect the psychological desire for control.

After all, it’s become harder and harder to reach people. While you might think your learning content is top-notch, there’s no guarantee it will connect with your learners. Fortunately, L&D professionals are well aware of the importance of personalized content – 77% say personalized learning is vital to employee engagement, while 94% of businesses believe personalization is key to their success.

So, how do you ensure you’re producing and delivering learning content that connects with your learners, keeps them engaged, and encourages them to keep coming back for more? Start by a recognizing that getting the right content in front of the right people, at the right time is only half the battle. Follow the recognition and close the loop by handing off the control of how and when that content is consumed.

Use Content Playlists to Support Learning as it Happens

Effective e-learning today requires a learning technology that enables learning as it actually happens, and not exclusively by completing formally assigned courses or attending classroom lectures – modalities that disrupt a learner’s workflow and aren’t effective drivers of knowledge retention.

User-generated playlists aren’t only a great way to spark social learning within your organization. They also give learners an element of control over the learning content they consume, promote learner autonomy and improve the overall effectiveness of your organization’s learning programs. Playlists are collections of different learning assets, created by your learners for a variety of purposes. earners should be encouraged to share their playlists with their peers to increase social learning opportunities.

There are various ways that learners can go about creating playlists. One example may see a learner may pull together a collection of content that is of interest to them, but not specifically tied to their day-to-day tasks. Another examples might have a learner create a playlist that’s full of information that’s job-specific or related to jobs-to-be-done that they can share with others in their specific role. Both uses of playlists promote learner autonomy and increase social learning opportunities while also improving the effectiveness of an organization’s overall learning programs.

L&D admins are also encouraged to monitor user-generated playlists to improve their searchability when other users are looking for various assets. Additionally, admins can identify experts within their organizations through the playlists they create or utilize particularly useful playlists to create new catalogues to assist with initiatives such as onboarding or sales enablement. User-generated playlists are an excellent way for admins to gain insight into what courses are working and which courses or pieces of content can complement each other when distributed in a sequence or package.

Harness The Power of Personalization to Boost The Effectiveness of Your Learning Programs

User-generated playlists are a great way to encourage users to become more actively involved in your organization’s learning programs. The kinds of content and the variety of topics those playlists are developed from can also give you insight into what your learners are interested in.

Continual monitoring of those playlists may also give you the information you need to further personalize each learners’ experience with new content related to specific topics or jobs-to-be-done, helping you to encourage continuous learner development by delivering content they actually care about, that they’re willing consume at any time, and that they’ll share with their peers. Give your learners the power of personalization with Docebo.

SCORM and AICC are international standard for tracking E-Learning activities. xAPI (formerly Tin Can API) is the Learning Objects new standard. The Docebo Learning Management System supports both of these standards.